Seafood for Thought

Through humor, you can soften some of the worst blows that life delivers. And once you find laughter, no matter how painful your situation might be, you can survive it.

-Bill Cosby

From "Neurology Now":

Science keeps catching up with what grandmothers have been preaching for ages: fish really is "brain food."

Following up on research that has shown eating fish to lower the risk for Alzheimer’s, another study adds to the growing evidence that a seafood-rich diet helps keep the mind sharp. People 65 and older who ate fish at least once a week fared better on tests of memory and thinking over six years than peers who didn't eat it, according to the 3,718-par¬ticipant study published in December's Archives of Neurology

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Eating fish once a week slowed the annual rate of cognitive decline by 10 percent; eating it at least twice a week slowed the decline by 13 percent. Among all the fish eaters, age-related mental decline was delayed by the equivalent of three to four years.

Though previous studies have credited fish that are rich in omega- 3 fatty acids with protecting against cognitive decline (as well as preventing heart dis¬ease), this one failed to find such a brain link Researchers speculate that the omega-3 fatty acids in such oily fish as salmon and tuna help keep the mind sharp by providing the main nutrients of cell membranes in the brain.